ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: DAVID BOWIE

Album Title: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Producer(s): David Bowie & Ken Scott

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Five Years; Soul Love; Moonage Daydream; Starman; It Ain’t Easy.

Side 2: Lady Stardust; Star; Hang on to Yourself; Ziggy Stardust; Suffragette City; Rock n Roll Suicide.

Label/Format: RCA Victor – these have the smooth quite shiny surfaces, later ones were matt. These include the rarer first issue ‘Titanic Music’ credits and ‘A Gem Production’ text, all details seen on my pictures.

Label Conditions: As can be seen, side one has the original owner’s name at the 3 o’clock position. A very careful female owner buying this album virtually on issue day and appearing to treasure it. This appears little used with any spindle traces few and very light, only seen point-blank under light. This the only real blemish on what is a quality first pressing (matrix details further down). These labels clean and fresh with deep vibrant colour. The slightly later matt ones hardly compare and less said about the Dynaflex pressings that followed the better. The name may be an issue for the connoisseur visual perfectionists, but for those who want a genuine first pressing to enjoy a clean record, cover and sound with the absolute maximum of detail and issue day satisfaction, this copy offers exactly that.

Catalogue Number: SF 8287 (LSP 4702)

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 137 grams. Most subsequent pressings much thinner.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity & Info: The album itself moderate, a big-selling album that really promoted all his previous and subsequent works. But this copy is a little special. An ultimate first issue pressing, purchased on, or very close to issue day. It includes the prized -1E/-1E matrixes (as seen on my pictures). These are much harder to find, and this copy appears little played. Finding this classic album like this goes beyond difficult, so many were played to near destruction, often by teenagers of the time on the most basic of equipment and trashed. This record is really nice with only very fine and faint surface marks seen under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches and a fine copy that has survived those early perilous years when most were played many times. All great news of course, but pressing quality is the most important factor, so many are let-down by pressing issues and unwanted sounds, often severe and degrading. This a well-known fact by collectors and Bowie fans, a trait that affected many of the RCA albums. Well this record is superbly pressed as well with ultimate detail. The play-grade proved a delightful experience with little unwanted. I know for a fact this album can, and often does have serious sound issues – this is not one of them. As this album embraced the record-buyer’s imagination, sales and demand grew. Repressed in considerable numbers, some even on Dynaflex, an inferior vinyl substitute as oil became scarce and expensive, the standards became variable and often poor. But prior to this album, Bowie’s catalogue was not selling at all well. Mass production means variable standards just to get items in the shops. This ultimate first issue – and matrixes never lie – and suffers no such issues. Put simply: this is an quality record that was a joy to hear and experience. The classic cover also hardly worn and also one of the very best I have seen. Made with thin card, few avoid rubbing, creasing and grubbiness, this one cover-protected and still fresh and impressive. Note: the back top right may appear to have a crease, but that is NOT so, it is simply part of the artwork. Also the ultra fragile inner sleeve sets a high standard few can match nowadays, even the edges are unsplit and the paper still little aged. Copies meeting this first press criteria are become rare, most seen have later matrixes and the highly prized 1E/1E ones are surfaces less often now as prized examples remain in proud owner’s collections. No better way to remember Ziggy, the ‘Starman’, this is a very fine all-round example.

Original Year of Release: 1972

Matrix Nos: BGBS 0864-1E / BGBS 0865-1E [deeply and very clearly machine punched as seen, NOT scripted or scratched like most].

Musicians: David Bowie – vocals, guitar, saxophone; Mick Ronson – guitar, piano, vocals; Trevor Bolder – bass guitar; Mick Woodmansey – drums.

Brief Info: The most suprising statistic about this groundbreaking glam-rock masterpiece, is the fact it only made number 5 in the UK and a low 75 in the United States, for without doubt this is one of greatest rock albums ever made. Up until this point, his previous albums had not sold in any great numbers, thus true first issues of Ziggy Stardust are rare – the -1E/-1E deeply punched matrixes are highly prized and cherished by fans and collectors. Totally timeless, it’s popularity and charisma only strengthens as it ages. Bowie’s ability to reinvent himself allowed the singer to follow a fascinating career – his death came as a massive shock to his worldwide audience. The blend of rock star persona and alien creature defining Ziggy Stardust was probably his greatest creation. Buoyed by the support of legendary guitarist Mick Ronson, Bowie produced some of his finest songs, from the raucous ‘Suffragette City’ to the prophetic ‘Rock n Roll Suicide’. Also ‘Starman’ which has reached legendary status. Science fiction was combined with his love of theatre to bring a visual nature to an album that remains central to Bowie’s wide-ranging catalogue. The opening song is chilling: the apocolyptic ‘Five Years’ is bleak in its intensity, and pulls no punches lyrically as planet Earth is dying ‘…With just five years left to cry in’. This is early 1970s glam-rock as it’s ultimate best. It boasts one of the most famous covers in music history and this one does it very strong justice. The cover is beautiful and this rarely wears well, with few ever stored in protective covers quickly enough to avoid wear and ageing. Well this appears hardly handled and retains surpeme deep colour and freshness with hardly any of the usual rubbing, creasing and ring wear. The well-known lyric inner sleeve also impressive with only mild darkening of the paper, but hardly creased with all edges intact – that somewhat rare. This record plays impressive and was a genuine joy to play-test. Bowie gave the world Ziggy – the Starman – and one of the most famous phrase-lines ever to burst-forth from any record – ‘WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM’! This was his route to immortality and few albums have defined a career more than this amazing album, his sad loss shocked the music-loving public and for those of my age, especially so.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single unlaminated format that has the GEM production logo and NO ‘Mainmain’, those came a little later in 1973, or when the first were used up. Those reprintings included ‘Mainman’ near the top right corner. This has matt, smooth surfaces and made with quite thin card – hence very prone to all forms of wear. Printed and made in England by Robert Stace. This includes the very fragile, thin paper graphic/lyric inner sleeve.

Cover Front: An iconic cover for a classic album, one of the most famous in the history of rock. Most collectors will want a very fine looking first print – and this qualifies. It retains deep unfaded, hardly rubbed artwork with no fading, sticker issues, and few traces of creasing. Any rim impression tiny and faint from the thicker than average record. All things rarely avoided and only the most cared for or handled copies will ever have a chance. This a front to hold and view with pleasure.

Cover Back: The back is largely the same, a small few very fine edge hairline type creases that show little, but this vulnerable back will prove hard to find much better without the Mainman logo.

Top Edge: Thin, but straight and hardly worn up to the very tips that have tiny rubs only.

Bottom Edge: Very similar again, any rub traces tiny and light and hardly any.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Mostly sharp with any thickening little and light. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with minimal compression, a very faint mark near the centre below the text. The text is hardly worn at all as-seen, also nicely centred on the quite narrow depth. Any surface discolouration mild and light.

Corners: Small, light rubs on the right corner tips, the spine pair have hardly any. Eexcellent shape mainly retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this very fragile 1970’s first print cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: and arguably better, this made with very thin paper and unlined, hence this rarely avoids edge splits, creasing and tears. This has lightly darkened to politely remind of age, but hardly creased with all edges intact. One of the very few I have found as such and another major plus for this set.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: or close to. A very fine visual copy that is clean with fine shine and very solidly pressed of record that is often very thin. A copy with modest plays on all the evidence with any surface marks very light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, little even register. Given the state most early copies are found in these days – heavily and deeply scratches with ruined, very noisy degraded sound quality – this puts a finer copy like this into real perspective. I am not saying it’s visually perfect as it does have fine surface marks, but visually a splendid record that should please many collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This groundbreaking classic album plays even above it’s high visual grading with very little to fault at all. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. That so often not the case, the final song ‘Rock n’ Suicide especially often breaks up on the intense vocal parts near the end which this copy has totally avoided. Few available copies will outperform this early first pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record – the odd sporadic contact sound or trace near impossibe to avoid on this album – but I for one would be more than delighted if all copies of this album played to this standard after hearing significant numbers that fail to make the grade. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same – just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Equipment Used for Play-Grading: I now play-grade ALL the records I offer (unless clearly stated to the contrary) on the following equipment:

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.